Cutting in the Great American and Melanie Bates has been on the school board in Cincinnati for about 20 years. She knows where the bodies are buried all over town. He also served on the state Board of Education cares deeply about education, especially about CPS and Melanie Bates and fellow Xavier graduate. Welcome to the Bill Cunningham Show. Melanie How you doing? I'm doing great. How are you doing, Belle? I'm frozen. It's cold. But nonetheless, right now, as we sit here this afternoon, Can you tell the American people the status of education at CPS in person or remote? And and then we'll talk about the vaccination program. But as we sit in this afternoon, what's happening at CPS? Right now. We are still in remote learning District wide on February 1st. We are beginning our phase in of a blended learning model, which means that Children will be in school. Two days on in person two days in remote and one day off one day for planning and sanitation That will be a safety in between February 1st and March the first and then is the goal to stay more less hybrid through the end of the school year into May. Is that the plan based upon whatever else happens. The goal is to move into four day week school now are preschoolers will begin at four days. A week on day kindergarten through 12 will be two days a week. In school and then two days remote, But the goal is to go. We're talking four days with a day in between four for cleaning. Can you relate to the American people? The idea that many Catholic appropriate schools and other public school district in the Hamilton County area and outside Hammond County have been able to see themselves through Without being simply a hybrid model or simply being remote. Many urges open completely, and they have gymnasiums that have been converted to lunch rooms. They have screens up. They have glass. They have mask wearing requirements, etcetera. How come CPS is not performed as far as in person learning as much as the other public school districts, much less the Catholic ones? Well, our issue as of November What staffing we did not have. Because of the quarantines and the positives of covert in our with our staff. We did not have enough people enough. License teachers to man the buildings and that's why we went remote. It was staffing, not safety. Since then, the quarantines have been relaxed, according to CDC guidelines. Student research. We have an all out campaign to recruit subs. I'm not I'm not sure what's going on in the public and the other public and private schools that they have an ample supply of subs because I'm sure they're seeing quarantines and cove. It's like we are, but they may be better prepared. They may have a different method of staffing, so I can't speak to that. But for us, it was It was staffing that put us back in remote in November. You know, W Kerry. See TV did a story And it's on their website about the number of bad results from Children, especially in an urban environments that are not in school. The Las Vegas Clark County superintendent has demanded the kids come back to school beginning this coming Monday because they've had 13 suicides. That the drug use the causes. Suicide hotlines are kind of off the charts as far as kids not being able to do well, if you're a 1st 2nd or third or fourth grader is going to take you a long time to get up to snuff because you've been out of school many times almost a year. And the environment many times you live in is not the best conducive to learning anyway. And so on the school board. Do you have discussions with Ryan, Messer and Murat Ski and others about? We have to weigh the impact on the Children by shutting down and also the impact by keeping open that somehow. More weights given to the teachers and administrative staff. But the students themselves are like dying on the vine. Wkrc TV did the story that was said Look, what's happening to Children who are left in their environment, much less the fact moms and dads can't go to work. And they run the streets. Whatever it might be when you have your meetings at CPS Lauren Mitchell etcetera, the superintendent, How much weight is given T the negative consequences of not being in school. Well, that's a constant discussion and is that that's a huge concern of mine. Personally, I mean it Z very unfair to our students to not have the same level of availability of education as other kids, Theo and we know abuse cases erupt. I'm not sure of the suicide ideations in our district. I just don't have that number. Way had the highest number of homicides in this city and 2020. I mean, wear Lachlan. We had a 15 year old murdered yesterday. It, Zaveri said. What's going on with our students? Uh, that that are, you know that. Are suffering because because of this whole situation, so yes, it Z something of concern to us. It's a matter of equity and I am 100% behind a safe return to school. And I do have a sense. This is going to be a assuming we resolve this thing in the next six months. Most say that by the summer time everyone who wants to be vaccinated will be vaccinated. School starts again The end of August 1st of September. Do you have some sense? How far behind the 36,000 Children are gonna be compared to school districts like Beechwood or Are Lakota or Mason or Madeira Deer Park. How far behind educationally those kids are gonna be? It's really kind of hard to say, because you know, we I don't have the numbers on how many kids are actually logging in and harmony on not I know that it's that it's declining. I know that for sure. Uh, our teachers are trained to bring students. You know, to bridge the gap. But we've not been through this before, so we really don't know how long it's going to take. I know that there's already discussions about extending the school year. All right, four students so they can go and we always do have school almost through July, the fourth but making that more extensive so kids can continue and try to catch up. Really, Since we haven't been through this, It's really hard to say by the it definitely is a matter of equity. I kind of look at this Melanie Bates and everywhere I look, I see anger and broken. The economy has broken the governor. Yesterday said Okay, we're gonna have the 11 o'clock and we're going to stay open toe 11 o'clock now supposed to 10 o'clock, Ah lot of men and women can't find work that the economy is in a very tough position. I look around and you have the right wingers invading the capital. Then I have the left wingers breaking out Starbucks Windows and Portland, Chicago and Seattle and Denver. There's this anger everywhere, cops or anger. We had 92 murders in the city 500 people shot and and by the way, we have a higher homicide rate in the city, Cincinnati, then in the city of Chicago. I had on a a guest. The other Sunday night that talked about ran the numbers. Chicago's about seven times larger than Cincinnati and Cincinnati has more homicides and more shootings in the city of Chicago. And everywhere I look, I see nothing but Oh, my gosh, Look at that. There's nobody happy Trump was in office. Everybody was really pissed off at him. And now Biden's in office is hard to get mad at because it seems to me like a nice old guy, but his policies anger a bunch of people. There's a bunch of energy workers being laid off, and we're making $110,000 a year. Now they're going toe lineup for government benefits everywhere I look, there's problems in education. If you're in the suburbs has problems. If you're in the city, there's problems. There's teachers I just had on shot. Sergeant Dan Hell, CPD. He talked about the fact that cops cannot get vaccinations. They're not prioritized at all. And Richard K. Jones on sheriff, he said. Our guys have nothing. In fact, Now I'm told by Joe Deters and others that there's no trials in Hamilton County until March or April. So we have people being arrested for crimes being committed victims cases are not being heard. And everywhere I look, I see problems and then in your world, which is the city of Cincinnati. It cost I don't know 17 $18,000 per academic year to educate a child. The school. But but budgets over a half a billion dollars 35,000 kids, largely not in school, and did you sense these are difficult times. These are terribly difficult times You just laid it out..